Rikkaidai's twin-headed dragon
by Chidorise
Summary: Friends Haruka and Rosie have lived together since the day Rosie's family took Haruka in and now at the age of eleven are taking their first steps outside of England and into world. A trip to America's San Angeles is first then Japan here we come.


**Rikkaidai's twin-headed dragon**

Chapter 1 – The persistent scout

"Why won't you both come to the professional world?" the man inquires walking backwards while matching our pace as we stroll along the pavement, tennis racquets slung over our left shoulders and tennis balls stuffed into various pockets.

"Tell me do you offer all eleven year olds the opportunity to go pro? Joe has been trying for a scholarship for a while now why not accept him?" the man's jaw drops at that and he stops dead in his tracks "the answer is no." The reason is obvious why he won't scout Joe and that's because Joe at the age of fifteen is still not a strong enough player to be admitted to the professional world. Not bothering to check for cars we slip off the curb and start crossing the road without moving too fast or too slow, it was too late when I finally heard the horn of the car that was quickly approaching; all I had time to do was to push Rosie onto the bank just in front of us before the car hit me.

Sirens sound and people scream at one another. Oh hell it's that stupid guys fault for bothering me if he hadn't I would have either waited for the car to pass or would have easily avoided it by sing split step, my reaction time is excellent but you don't expect to get mowed down one day after club activities, do you? And then I black out.

Waking up I'm told that I'm no longer at school, never mind that I am now in London getting 'expert' treatment done to my right arm because of that stupid scout; and second thing I was told after waking up is that it's his fault that I was transferred from the local hospital to a London hospital, and it is also his fault that my first visit to London is spent in a hospital bed.

"Stupid! Stupid! STUPID!" Rosie roars in my ear while jabbing my right arm in its sling "you should have used split step" she says prodding a little harder, she lowers her voice as the nurse leaves the room and closes the door behind her. "So how bad is it?" she asks looking into my eyes to make sure I don't lie to her.

With my left hand I untie the knot at the back of my neck before carefully easing the material away from my arm and dropping it onto the sheets. Kicking the sheets off my legs I sit momentarily and just sit looking straight ahead; turning I lower my feet to the ground and support myself with bedside table. Turning on my heel I stand and look at Rosie sat on a chair at the other side of the hospital bed, with a shrug of my shoulders I speak "let's see now, shall we? No telling anyone how bad my arm actually is if anyone should ask just say that I received 'minor' damage" my attention goes from looking into her eyes to the fabric which was used as my sling. Slowly my right arm straightens and then goes in a slow upwards ark until its fully stretched upwards with my fingers reaching for the ceiling. Pain shoots from my wrist, past my elbow and up to my shoulder before going back again. Rosie's hand darts to the emergency button but I slap it away with my right hand and causing myself yet more pain. "Don't. Tell. Anyone" I hiss through gritted teeth, after several minutes of silence the pain dulls down to near enough nothing I calm down and drop my arm back down to my side "let's go for some fresh air" with a nod from Rosie I grab her bag with the tennis racquets inside and sprint through the maze-like-hospital to the exit.

Behind the hospital there is a tennis court and for the last couple of days I'd seen two boys playing against one another while looking out of my hospital room's window. Today is different. When me and Rosie turned the corner they were there again playing tennis. When they sensed others watching them they stopped after the one closest to us won a point using Dunk Smash.' The one at the opposite side of the court I recognise straight away as Andy Murray our up and coming tennis 'star' while the one closest to us looks younger and is the one who always has the upper hand.

The younger one has his hood pulled over his head and has an orange in his hand "break time Murray-san" walking over to us he sticks his free hand out and at the same time bites into his orange "yo, have I wooed you yet?" in sync we shake our heads "damn I'm slacking. Oh I recognise you I've seen you watching us play the last couple of days. Do you play? Or are you Murray-sans fan? Or are you lying when you say I haven't wooed you yet?" another bite into the orange and drops his arm back down to his side.

And Murray walks over and looks us both up and down "Ryoga they're still kids and why would kids play or even watch tennis?" he says and then remembers the younger boys, Ryoga's earlier comment "are you the one from floor 3 room 316?" I nod and he pales "you're Japanese?" I nod and it didn't seem possible be turned paler "the kid from up north, but your arm looks fine. That's not possible."

My parents had split up before I was even born, my mom wanting a new life decided to travel and ended up here, England. Five years ago she died in a car crash and that was when Rosie's family took me in. Rosie Volkov is half Russian half British and she is my good friend and after these five years I class her as a sister. It's tradition for her family to spend the winter months with her mom's family in Russia who treat me as if I was one of their own. "I'm not 'you' or 'the kid' I'm Haruka Raiden Volkov. Japanese and proud" Ryoga looks pleased at this and jabs Andy in the ribs.

He tiptoes around us and grins when back facing us "so you do play tennis, that's good. Why don't we play a game of doubles?" Rosie looks at me worried and lets out a sigh when I pull out one of her tennis racquets and hand her the bag that holds two more racquets "I take that as a yes" he says taking a final bite of his orange before putting it into a food bag and back into his jacket pocket, turning on his heel he grabs Andy Murray by the wrist and drags him to the opposite side of the court.

"You shouldn't be doing this, your ar-" clasping a hand over her mouth I shake my head before removing the hand and letting my arm fall back down to my side. "YOU GUYS CAN SERVE, you start looking like you're in pain and I call quits" getting into formation I look over my shoulder and mouth '3% synchro rate' and then it starts, the match and the pain in my arm.

"This is your win. Game won by Volkov Raiden pair" Andy pants dropping to his knees soaked in sweat "you're no beginners I can tell that much."

With my left hand I slide the tennis racquet back into its place in the bag and zip the bag back up, standing up I come face to face with the boy "yo! That was a fun match my name is Ryoga Echizen and I am Japanese. Nice to meet you both" he pulls down his hood and we see his dark green almost black hair and hazel eyes.

I smile "like I said earlier my name is Hikaru Raiden and I am Japanese" my right arm is throbbing from the pain, shakily I bring up my left arm and lightly hold onto my elbow.

Rosie unzips the bag and slides her racquet in beside mine before zipping the bag back up and slinging it over her left shoulder "pleased to meet you. My name is Rosie Volkov, thank you for playing us today" putting a hand on my shoulder she feels shaking "is it your arm? How long has it been hurting again?" she questions watching beads of sweat trickle down my face.

"Since the start o-" feet slap off the pavement and I quickly hide behind Ryoga "don't tell them I'm here" two nurses, a doctor, the scout and Rosie's parents round the building.

"Bye Ryoga" with that Andy Murray bundles up his stuff and jogs round the opposite side of the building. He didn't even let Ryoga say bye to him he just escaped really quickly.

Ryoga looks at the adults, then Rosie then the orange he had just pulled back out of his pocket "yo, what do you want?" pulling an orange out of his other pocket he holds it behind his back for me to take, quickly I take the orange and bite into it.

The nurses step forward, ignoring Ryoga they talk to Rosie "where is Haruka Raiden? It's time for her check-up and fresh wrapping for her arm" Ryoga stands listening in with curiosity. One of the nurses recognises Ryoga and scowls "young master Echizen you should still be resting. Wait have you seen her? I mean she is your roommate after all" at this Ryoga freezes, his orange falls to the floor at his feet, I just flinch.

The doctor strolls up to Ryoga then takes yet another step before turning and looking at the two of us stood back to back with a smile. The scout and Rosie's parents scuttle over at this point, the nurses now stood to either side of the doctor with a scowl creasing their features. "We got off on a bit of a bad start last time. I talked to your parents and they think that it is a once in a life time opportunity that you should accept" Rosie looks up at her parents and they nod along in agreement "my name is Jason Gallows and I'd be in charge of you both twenty-four seven. Will you-" my legs collapse and I scream out in agony as the pain in my arm grows worse.

"While she's here she is my patient Mr Gallows and nothing else so wait until she is well before pestering her" the doctor growls before turning to Rosie's parents "quick go tell them to bring a stretcher out back."

"DON'T" Ryoga raises his voice and they all stop, turning he crouches down with his knuckles touching the floor "Rosie give me a hand will ya and I'll carry her in like this. I know where to go anyway" Rosie eases Haruka onto Ryoga's back and folds her arm around his neck "Haruka listen to me I'll hold your arms so you don't fall but you'll have to help me by keeping your legs firmly around my waist" responding to this I wrap my leg around his waist and wincing when he stands up "just bear with the pain for a little while longer" at this he eases back up to his feet and makes his way back into the hospital and up to our hospital room where I am eased off his back and onto my bed. The two nurses and the doctor are joined by another doctor and a tray of medical tools.

Over the next week the pain dies down thanks to the help of heaps of antibiotics and sedatives. Most of the week was spent sleeping. After fifteen days the month had changed and we were now in December even if it is only the 1st of the month. The scout came back yesterday and apologised then brought up the topic of becoming a professional tennis player again so Ryoga and Rosie showed him to the exit, he was back today too and brought up the topic again. This sequence went on for about a week but three days into that week I started to show him the exit myself which was when his pleas for us to become professional grew more and more daunting. In the end he brought in two contracts and said he'd be back in two days wanting an answer and if we said no this time he was going to give up on us. Ryoga told us about the man who had adopted him when he was five years old a man named Nanjiroh Echizen. Nanjiroh didn't only give him food to eat and a bed to sleep in, he gave him a family which included a father a mother and a younger brother and he gave him a dream to strive for; to become number one in the tennis world. He also said that he was planning on returning to their home in Los Angeles for a couple of weeks and that we should join him to meet his family and so that Nanjiroh can test our skills.

The scout came back and we laid out our own terms for him to agree to if he wants us that badly. The first of our terms was that we left England with Ryoga and didn't return back until we were ready to start; the second was too pay for our expenses while we were overseas, the third was simple to pay for a school of our own choosing when we find the one we believe is suitable for us to attend which could be anywhere in the world. The scout had went pale when hearing our terms but agreed anyway as he didn't want to miss out on his latest money makers. It want the scout's persistency that won us over it was Ryoga's talk of travelling and meeting a legend and living our lives for no one but ourselves.

The next day Rosie's parents had seen us off at the airport, we took next to nothing but that didn't matter to us all that mattered now was the adventure we were about to set off on and tennis. Ryoga sat in between us on the plane snoring all the way but it was interesting. Me, Rosie and the sleeping Ryoga have now started an adventure together, who knows what will happen to us in the years to come.


End file.
